PhotoJournal

Last Saturday we decided to go for an impromptu drive into the countryside around Dublin and north County Wicklow. We headed for the picturesque area of Blessington, and the famous lakes, which are nestled in the Wicklow mountains. The lakes are actually artificial and were formed 50 years ago by the creation of a dam which flooded the valley. They now provide hydroelectric power and drinking water to parts of county Dublin.

I distinctly remember the cold that day. The temperature wasn’t terribly low, but the breeze blowing off the fjord made it feel pretty cold. As the sun slowly went down over the city of Oslo, my wife and I stood on the harbour watching the ferries come in and out, and despite the cold, we were hypnotised by the coming and going of the boats.

Apparently, we’re in for some interesting weather over the next few days. We’re currently experiencing some unusually cold weather for this time of the year, and for the past week, the government agencies here in Ireland have been warning us of an impending serious weather event.

It’s been something of an odd January here in Ireland. For a start, it’s been pretty bloody dark. It has’t exactly been the ideal environment to go out an take photos. Being sick didn’t help either. I had just been thinking to myself I hadn’t really shot any street photography recently, and then, as if by magic, the opportunity presented itself, so off I went.

Last year I got up early with the aim of capturing the sunrise for the first day of the year. I took some nice shots of the light before dawn but it clouded over too much before the actual sun rose. Still, I wanted to make it a tradition, and so, once again, I headed to the same spot in order to catch the first rays of the sun for 2018.

Last weekend I went to one of my favourite spots in Ireland, the Glendalough National Park, which is home to some spectacular scenery, and is a glacial valley in the wicklow mountains. Along with the spectacular scenery, there was some spectacular light too. The weather was changeable to say the least, and a continuous series of clouds and showers danced across the scenery.

I’ve said on my blog many times that Autumn is my favourite time of the year for photography. This isn’t just about the wonderful colours of the falling leaves. It’s also abut the Autumn light, and here in Ireland it’a already starting to be noticeable.

I was out in the formal gardens in the Powerscourt Estate in co. Wicklow, which is a local tourist attraction. It’s an old stately home in the countryside in the county where I grew up. It’s quite famous in the area, and has been featured in several movies over the years, most notably The Count of Monte Cristo. They have some lovely ornate gardens, and my wife and I were talking a walk through them over the weekend.

It’s been little while since I’ve posted a Street Photo Diary, and for this issue, I’m doing things a little differently. I’ve been shooting some film recently, and I also found some undeveloped film that I shot back at the start of the year, which also turned out to be some street shots.

I happened to be in the right place at the right time the other day to capture an amazing sunset. While travelling back on the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, the sea was calm and the sky was beautiful, and as we reached the middle of the journey the sun set on the horizon, in a beautiful display of reds and golds.

I was in Galway yesterday, which was the longest day of the year, and I wanted to capture the sunset over Galway bay looking out to the Atlantic. As it was the longest day, it was kind of a special sunset, marking the end of the lengthening evenings and the start of the long march back to winter. Unfortunately it was cloudy, but there was still some nice light, and the beach at Salthill in Galway is dramatic in and of itself.

A few weeks ago, I was up and out early into the city to shoot some things for my Streets of Dublin project, and while I was there I ended up shooting a lot of street photography too. What was funny though was that, as it was early in the morning, people were heading to work and the mood was quite different from how it is later in the day. For a start everyone was walking with haste and with a real sense of purpose.

In the previous issue of my travel diary, I talked about visiting the German city of Darmstadt on a dull day. I had deliberately gone for an industrial and rigid look to the photos for that piece, to enhance the mood of the dull weather. While this certainly suited the atmosphere, it does perhaps misrepresent the town of Darmstadt. During on the rest of my time there, the sun was out and the feeling couldn’t be more different. It’s actually a lovely city, and a very green one.